PSA: We Really Don't Recommend You Use that Centro/Treo 800w Battery in your Pre 25
Look, we know. The batteries you might have lying about from your Palm Centro or your Treo 800w fit in the Palm Pre. They power it up just fine and everything seems peachy. But from everything we've been able to gather so far: it's not. Batteries are more than just hunks of chemicals, contacts, and plastics and the Pre's battery is different from those seemingly identical batteries, different enough that it's not a good idea to use a battery meant for a Centro or Treo 800w in a Pre.
If you're in a pinch for a short period, we can look the other way. If you're looking to use it long term, well, we wouldn't. Be prepared for the Pre to get much much hotter than it ought. Be prepared for problems down the line, as dfine1966 suggests in our Palm Pre Forums. Just... be prepared for the possibility of significant hassles -- Palm doesn't recommend it and neither do we.
If you're looking to get more longevity out of the Pre, take a gander at our Battery Tips Article. I'm also testing out the Seidio Extended Battery for the Palm Pre (it's 1350mAh as opposed to the standard 1150mAh) as I type this -- the folks in the PreCentral.net Pre Accessory Store say it should be in stock fairly soon.
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I am looking forward to the/a review of the Seidio 1350mAh battery and if it worth the $$.
Little update:
I went to the Sprint store(Sprint Owned today). While I was there taking care of another problem with my Pre, I asked if they knew why you couldn't use the Centro battery in the Pre.
The Manager came out to talk to me and showed me a memo they were just sent about this problem.
It says that the difference is the Sleep mode of the Pre. The Centro battery will not put the Pre in sleep mode, where as the Pre's battery will put the phone in sleep mode. She said there is a different type of chip inside the battery that monitors this.
What does this mean? It means that the Pre will be on all the time, even if the Screen goes dark.
In layman terms, the Centro battery will burn out the Pre faster, and could cause a lot of harm.
If you have any questions, go to your local Sprint owned store. Ask them about the Centro battery in the Pre. They should of all got the memo within the last few days. The Manager, in my store had a meeting with the employees to explain the differences.
Basically, use at your own risk, and it will void the warranty if you burn out your phone using the Centro battery. I asked that question to the Manager.
Precentral: Can you point to specific evidence of a Centro battery not working in the Pre? The only specific references to real world experience with Centro batteries in the Pre are forum posts that indicate they work just fine.
All of the other posts related to 'sleep chips' (come on, a battery does not put a device into sleep mode), over heating, and different discharge profiles (you can't tell me the Pre draws more than 2.6A) are just rumor and/or conjecture.
Remember that Palm and Sprint also say you should not use any other chargers that don't say Pre on them...and we all know how much marketing BS that is!!
Lets stick to the facts and save the rumors for the forums!
We didn't ask you to believe what we say. That is what we were told by Palm and Sprint. Today I did go to Sprint and saw the memo from Sprint and was told by the Manager herself, about the battery for the Centro won't work with Sleep mode,it won't put the Pre to sleep. And yes, batteries are a lot more inside than you think. Please, don't take my word for it, please call Palm or Sprint yourself to get your own answer.
Of course the Centro battery works, but it will cause harm to the Pre in the future. But it is your phone. Good luck.
Why would the inability of the phone to sleep cause damage to it? Unless it gets exceedingly hot, the only problem would be that the battery runs down faster than it should.
This is absolutely correct. Stuff like this should not make it onto the front page of PreCentral until it is *tested* and *confirmed*. (And I very much doubt it will be or can be.)
Claiming that use of a Centro battery will void the warranty? Please. Palm could have kept the battery from fitting, and chose not to do so. Trying to void a warranty because someone used a Palm battery, that fit perfectly in his Palm phone ... wow, talk about asking for a class-action lawsuit.
I was at a Sprint store literally 20 minutes ago. I told them I was having battery problems, and they gave me a centro battery. The dudes didn't know that the battery could work, so they tested it and said that it will work just fine (save voltage etc.). They also said if there's a problem and the phone brakes they would replace it.
SO...which story to believe...
I tried the new battery. Be careful, it causes the phone to act funny. Although fully charged, I found several times when the phone simply would not turn on. (Note, the phone wasn't even being carried around -- it was laying on my desk and when i picked it up it simply would not power on). I even put back in the old battery and it took about 10 minutes before the phone would actually come up (i.e. the boot screen would show). I also made sure the contacts were touching the battery with the paper "trick". This happend twice with the new battery and then I switched back to the old one, and have not experienced the problem again.
Note that once the phone powers on, I can switch back in the seidio battery and it works (for awhile). The battery power level indicator shows about 85%.
Dieter,
I think the Seidio 1350 mAh battery and what they are calling the "extended life" battery are two different things.
http://www.seidioonline.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=3366
Bummer, I thought I would save money to use for backup. Look like I'll smash my crappy Centro.
How can you sit there with a straight face and tell us in the same breath not to use the centro battery, but that it could be ok to use the extended life battery? You don't give us any specific personal negative experiences with the battery, but you tell us not to use it. Then you go ahead and promote your own product. This is what makes people lose trust. If you're going to promote your products-just do it. Don't involve some half-assed story of how you heard from a bird that the centro battery doesn't work.
Promote? Really?
I'm also testing out the Seidio Extended Battery for the Palm Pre (it's 1350mAh as opposed to the standard 1150mAh) as I type this
Seems like he is testing it, not promoting it. Is this new battery a precentral exclusive?
What he did promote was an article filled with battery life extending tips.
"Of course the Centro battery works, but it will cause harm to the Pre in the future. But it is your phone. Good luck."
Can you point to some specific evidence that it will "cause harm to the Pre" other than the Memo at Sprint stores? Keep in mind that Sprint/Palm also say that non Pre branded chargers will harm the Pre.
The facts, just the facts :)
I can accept that the Pre battery has different circuitry that affects the way sleep mode works. But NOT that this will "burn out your Pre." If the Pre doesn't go into sleep mode, it's the same as if you're using it all the time, and I don't think you'll burn out your Pre that way.
The original post, about "B" spec vs. "C" spec batteries, is nothing but speculation. There's no fact to support or contradict it.
Assuming the memo is true, then Palm is stupider than I thought. If the Pre and Centro batteries are incompatible, then they should have been made physically different. All they would have had to do is move one contact slightly, or make the physical key placement slightly different, and we wouldn't be having this discussion. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Why should Palm ask their battery manufacturers to waste resources retooling their factories (and raising the price of the batteries) to protect people from their ignorance? It should be pretty obvious when you're buying the battery which device it's meant for. There are many types of car/truck/boat batteries that have the exact same size and shape but different specs.
This is too funny. People warn you that you shouldn't use the centro battery and you bash them for it. I say ignore the warnings and pop one of those suckers in your pre. Now if it does indeed cause harm to your pre...don't complain. If it causes no harm...hey you saved a few bucks.
The point is you can take the warning or leave it...but bashing the messenger...really?
FUD
http://fud.urbanup.com/181688
PreCentral.net lost some credibility shilling for Sprint and Palm like this. The story they fed you could very well be true, but their abundant bias and dearth of evidence means their claims can be readily ignored.
PreCentral.net's error was not in repeating their pitch, but in assuming it to be true, especially considering they are are not without their own bias:
http://store.precentral.net/palm-pre-batteries.htm
Until someone offers EVIDENCE to the contrary, Centro batteries can be considered to be just as good as the current Pre battery.
The Plam Pre battery is 3.7 volts DC and is 1150mAh. I am not sure about all Treo 800 And Centro battery's but the 2 I had for my old Treo and Centro are the same 3.7 volts DC at 1150mAh. I have worked with many diff. types of battery's if the mAh is the same and the voltage then you should be ok. I have been using them since day one and my phone does not get any hotter I even called palm tech and they said if the mAh is the same and voltage your good to go... I also went to the local sprint store and got 2 bad cells one for the Pre and one for the Centro and took them apart they are identical in every way once you take the out side gray or black sticker off the out side of the cell...
---->update
I don't believe Pre-central has researched this area enough to make definitive comments on whether the batteries are indeed different where it counts, and they should make it clear that they are only repeating what sprint says...not that it is precentrals stance from an objective level.
So, with that being said I think that the case is still open until someone brings some credible evidence to suggest otherwise.
Just having sprint store managers repeat what sprint's comments are on the subject..aren't very clear. and for that matter sprints comments aren't clear as well.
When you look at the comments sprint made concerning "burn out" and "long term"? what are they talking about? what is the smart technology in the battery that is so different? I believe the technology lies in the phone not the battery. seidio batteries work great. do they put this super smart and super secret technology in their batteries as well?
this whole notion of sleep mode being a function of what is designed into a battery is a bit odd.
So, let's clarify before we go railing on the centro battery which has the identical specs.
My phone has gotten hot with the pre standard battery on multiple occasions...but not the centro battery that I recall.
This is what I know: The batteries have the identical specs. They are the identical size. and they work in both units just fine. the chargers are interchangeable as you can charge the centro battery just fine with the pre charger.
Now, my background of 17 yrs is product development/engineering...and one of the BIGGEST no'no's in designing a new unit of any sort...is backwards compatibility. What I mean is that if I am designing a new unit...and I DON'T WANT SOMEONE TO USE AN OLD BATTERY, I make the new battery compartment not fit the old battery. PERIOD. no way to f* it up. Its design 101. So, My assumption is the new battery is a cosmetic change only or it wouldn't fit.
The centro and Treo 800W use the same battery as well and are interchangeable form what I have read.
If palm new of grave danger they would indeed change the compartment to a different battery size that wouldn't fit the old battery. after all, it is a new design from the ground up and that option was on the table. They didn't do that...
Now, about the backwards charging or damage to the pre. I assume that if there are "switching or charging" electronics pertaining to the pre that are diff from centro, those electronics/chips whatever would be located in the Pre...not the battery. So, the idea that the battery has some ability to keep from burning up the pre is weird to me...b/c I would think the technology to keep the pre from burning up would be in the PHONE ITSELF. Palm knows there are aftermarket battery manufacturers who will go after the battery business.
Those are my thoughts... I think palm has done a wonderful design job (as always)..and i have been a long time palm customer and always will be. The engineers and managment seem to know what I like in a phone and they deliver it just the way I like it. Near perfection for a 1.0 unit. They used alot of common sense. kudos to Palm!
I believe with their intelligence level on product development...that they would not have missed this liability for people that want to switch batteries...however, i do believe they as any other company would seek new ways to gain revenues thru a new "battery" that looks different with same specs.
maybe the centro battery will burn out the pre. but I just think Palm would have done things differently from a product engineering standpoint...if the liability was real and a danger for multiple returns and risks.
I just upgraded from a Treo 800w to the Pre yesterday. On the drive home, I plugged in the car charger I've been using with my Treo 800w and the Pre did not indicate that it was charging. However, when I plug the home charger in, the phone indicates that it is charging. I do not know why the difference. It's possible that the physical shape of my car charger is preventing a good contact with the Pre's circuitry. The Pre's power charging port is tiny and recessed more that the 800w, making it a little more difficult to plug into.
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